Historical qualitative research whose aim has been to recover nursing teaching path in the Brazilian town of Lajeado/RS, from the second half of the twentieth century. Oral history has been used as primary data, and the second ones have been documents that have been analysed according to Bardin's Content Analysis. The subjects were heads, teachers and students of nursing courses. In the past 50 years, the professionalization of nursing was intensive, serving to the current political and economic model, in the form of formal and informal courses. Workers would be ill prepared, subservient to other health professionals and would try to work for doctors and institutional directors. However, school initiative and professionals working in various areas began to change this reality in the region.